Westminster’s Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) yesterday (Friday, 9 May) launched a new inquiry into Misogyny: the manosphere and online content.
- Submit evidence through the inquiry page
- Women and Equalities Committee
The inquiry will explore the prevalence and impact of misogynistic views, attitudes and behaviour among young men and boys, particularly in schools and educational settings and the reasons for this.
It will examine ways that boys and young men are also being harmed and if better support, activities and services need to be available to them.
MPs on the cross-party Committee, chaired by Labour MP Sarah Owen, will examine evidence of rising misogyny among young men and boys, and the role of social media and online communities, referred to as the ‘manosphere’.
It will also look at how online content and the availability of violent pornography, is contributing to sexist and misogynistic attitudes, behaviour and violence against women and girls both online and offline.
The inquiry will examine how social media influencers are shaping attitudes towards women and girls and the strategies and interventions needed to address this.
It will also assess what role social media companies and online platforms are playing in the promotion of misogynistic content and what policies they have in place for deplatforming or demonetising this content.
WEC held an evidence session on April 29 with Jack Thorne and Emily Feller, executive producers of the hit Netflix drama Adolescence, exploring the impact of toxic online misogyny on young men and boys, as well as the public and political reaction to it. WEC’s predecessor committee held an evidence session in May 2024 on incel culture.
Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) Chair Sarah Owen MP said: “The recent television drama Adolescence brought into sharp political and public focus the burgeoning issue of misogynistic views and behaviour among young men and boys and the questions over its prevalence, particularly in schools and educational settings.
“With young people spending significant amounts of time online, the Committee want to conduct a timely assessment of the drivers for such attitudes, as well as explore the complex interplay with social media content, the online manosphere and violent pornography.
“This inquiry will examine what more could be done both on and offline to address these trends, and also feeds into WEC’s wider scrutiny of Government work to tackle violence against women and girls.”
Terms of reference
The Committee invites written submissions through the inquiry website addressing any or all of the issues raised in the following terms of reference by Friday, 6 June 2025.
- How prevalent are misogynistic views, attitudes and behaviour among young people today, particularly in educational settings? What examples are there of these views, attitudes and behaviours? In what other settings are such behaviours prevalent?
- How is content on social media and online, such as violent pornography, contributing to sexist and misogynistic attitudes and behaviour and violence against women and girls both online and offline?
- How are social media influencers shaping attitudes towards women and girls?
- What role are social media companies and online platforms playing in the promotion of misogynistic content?
- Who is gaining financially from the marketisation of misogyny online, and how? What policies do social media companies have in place for deplatforming or demonetising this content and are they enforced?
- What strategies and interventions are needed to address misogyny among young people?